London ends lower; Xstrata, other miners sink

Hargreaves Lansdown tumbles in wake of regulator’s new rules

MADRID (MarketWatch) — London stocks ended lower Tuesday, as gains in the banking sector eroded amid a broad selloff and the mining sector fell as investors moved away from perceived riskier plays.

The FTSE 100 index (UKX) dropped 56.04 points, or 1%, to close at 5,718.39, marking the third straight losing session. Volatile trading remained the pattern in the afternoon after weaker U.S. consumer-pending figures, adding to gloomy data released the prior day.

HSBC hires in Asia

(2:56)

HSBC is cutting 30,000 jobs worldwide, but not in Asia where it plans to hire on strong growth.

Mining stocks took a hit across the board. Jitters over U.S. debt issues has been driving investors into commodities like gold and mining stocks.

“They are riskier stocks, and appetite for those isn’t great today,” said Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Killik & Co.

Shares of Xstrata PLC (XTA) tumbled 3.6%. The group said first-half net profit rose 27% as commodity prices advanced, while giving its dividend a big hike.

Banks initially offered the London market some support, with shares of Barclays PLC
BCS, -1.62%
(BARC) jumping after the bank reported a 24% gain in first-half pretax profit, which beat forecasts. But shares succumbed to pressure later in the session to end down 0.1%.

Also on the downside in London, shares of Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (HL.) plunged 12.7%.

U.K. regulators said Monday that it wants to ban payments to fund managers and cash rebates to consumers, which mean a change in the company’s Vantage fund platform. Analysts indicated the market was overreacting, however.

“In a worst-case scenario, we would expect to see Hargreaves Lansdown increase the fees they charge for the services they provide,” said analysts at Numis Securities.

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